A Frozen Encounter
by TheWusha
Summary: A young and aspirational Asura travels to the land of the Shiverpeaks, unknowingly setting foot into a world of new dangers.
1. Chapter 1

Close to sunset, the frozen landscape still glowed as the light reflected from the glaze of ice that adorned the valley. The land sparkled. There was no sound. The duvet of snow that smothered the earth seemed to drown out all noise, as if filling up every inch of space were sound could possibly be. Even the struggling footsteps of a small figure moving through the blanket of snowfall, were unheard. Three-toed footprints decorated the snow as the asura scurried onward, nearly knee deep in the sea of white.

After only progressing a short way, the asura stopped breathlessly to rest against a tree crystallized with ice. It's bark was polished with a sparkling silver and appeared almost ghostly. The asura, rubbing her hands together desperately, looked out over the beautiful yet hypothermic landscape. There was no one. She cast her eyes down at her feet, which were painfully swollen from the merciless cold and were turning a bright red in contrast with her near-white skin.

In all her excitement from the idea of travelling, despite her genius, she had forgotten to take the climate of the area into consideration. Thus she had worn traditional asuran footwear, which offered virtually no protection as the shoe was mainly on top of the foot rather than under. Frustrated at her unnatural act of stupidity, she trudged on, pulling her hood over her face to try and gain even the smallest hint of warmth. She could feel the cold infecting her chest and knew that if she didn't find somewhere warm soon, she would shortly become a frozen corpse.

The young asura continued her agonizing trek for what seemed like hours, her body getting weaker as the cold penetrated and spread through her small body. Her feet were numb now and a pressing feeling in her chest left her struggling for breath. The trees glowed around her, the silence becoming increasingly more eerie.

Keep moving. Keep moving.

Her eyes were half shut now and unfocused, Streaks of ice had formed on her eyelashes. With the pain blinding her and her mind becoming hazy, all she could do was move forward. Snow had stated to crash down against her weak, ice crusted body. The cruel weather then summoned a powerful gust of wind, forcing her hood back and freeing her turquoise her which flew out behind her. The knock back from the wind alerted her to the fact it was already pitch black. This realisation gave her mind a jolt, enough to give her worn body a kick to carry on.

Despite her pain, she desperately moved faster, pushing herself against the wind and the snow. All was black ahead of her, as if she were in a tunnel. Suddenly her stomach lurched and her mind froze in panic as her body tumbled down a small hill. She frantically clawed at the ground for purchase but it was too slippery to stop her painful fall. Her head hit the ground violently and her arms and legs were clawed and bleeding when she crashed into the cold ditch at the bottom of the hill. Face first in the snow, her muscles weak and tense, she could only summon enough strength to look up. In her pain, her mind could barely comprehend the situation. She didn't think 'I'm going to die' or even contemplate her loss of life and the things she could have done. She just stared blankly up at the falling snow. It was landing softer now and coated the asura in a gentle layer of white. Her breathing grew calm and quiet and soon she was still. There was no sound. Her eyes began to close slowly in defeat, the snow-covered lashes drooping. No-one in her mind to remember, nothing in her mind to miss, emotionless.

Just as her consciousness was slipping, she thought she could hear something. Her ears pricked up weakly, trying to pick up the sound. A simple, low noise and rhythmic like a heartbeat.

or footsteps.

A large silhouette rose into her vision. She could feel the vibrations of its rumbling footsteps on her tortured body. It was closer now, and much larger. The figure's appearance managed to clear enough fog in her brain to allow the frozen asura to feel fear. She stared helplessly at this larger than life creature, looming over her like a nightmare. A creature with bear-like fur, the horns of a stag and the body of a man. Was it real? Trembling in terror and realising this was the end, she took one last look at the beast and then squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for her consciousness to vanish at any moment.

Everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Floating into consciousness, the young asura felt weightless and strangely warm. She couldn't feel her ears and could not force her muscles to move. There was mumbling somewhere far off, so quiet she couldn't pick out any meaning. Her memories began to sieve slowly back into her mind, she remembered the cold, and the fall. Suddenly the pain in her feet returned with a cruel vengeance but still she could not move. Then a terrifying thought exploded into her mind, draining the blood from her head in shock.

AM I DEAD?

She hastily tried to move again , panicking, her breathing becoming fast and erratic. Where was she? Frustrated that she could not move, the asuran intelligence within her forced her to calm down and think. Thinking was what got her people out of the ground and to the top of the racial intelligence chain. With a patriotic determination, she listened with her large, acute ears. She could decipher that the droning noise was talking, but it was not from asura. There was too much of it, and the pitch was too low. She sniffed, and suddenly everything was clear.

The strong smell of alcohol clearly indicated that she was somewhere inhabited by norn. She was shocked, in fact, that she hadn't picked up the overpowering smell of ale until now. The talking grew louder and she could feel herself start to awake.

At last the asura's eyelashes began to flicker. Everything was blurry and moving, as if her eyes were filled with water. She continued to blink until her vision started to clear. She felt as though she was waking from a terrible nightmare, but as her eyes adjusted and she saw the twinkle of eyes and the outline of a face, she wasn't so sure she had escaped the nightmare after all. Unsure of what to do, she tried to move back, but her body was stuck. Looking down, she realised she was wrapped in animal fur. Disgusted at first, she tried to unfold herself, but there was no smell of animal and the fur was soft and clean. She realised she was in a norn dwelling known as a 'moot'.

Her bed of furs was in the corner of this moot and she could see other norn further off beside the bar. An enormous blazing fire at the opposite corner heated the building and there was an air of merriment coming from the laughing norn. Apart from alcohol, there was the smell of cooked meat and bread and it felt oddly welcoming. She looked up at her rescuer, or, if she was unlucky, her captor. She had read that norn were hospitable and kind, but their large size and collections of dead animals left her unsure. The norn was big of course, but to her at this moment, he was like a giant. She had never come into contact with norn before. You don't get many in Rata Sum. He had locks of thick brown hair that fell around his face and a large masculine jaw covered in stubble. His eyes had a strange kindness however, and the asura's fearful instinct subsided, much to her surprise. He looked down at her with an expression of relief but before he could say anything a large norn woman came bustling out of nowhere.

'Oh she's awake!' her voice was incredibly loud and made the asura's ears twitch.

'Poor little thing nearly froze to death!'

The woman held her face with a look of distress before bounding off to the bar. The young asura frowned, nose wrinkling in indignation. 'Little THING' she thought in outrage, but before she could voice her fury the largest mug of ale was thrust into her hands and it was all she could do not to spill it everywhere. After the ceremonious presentation of her alcoholic gift, the norn woman yet again was bouncing back to the bar. It occurred to the asura that she was probably the bar maid. She'd like to show her just what this 'little thing' could do. Looking back at the man, who was now smiling, she gingerly took a sip of the vast liquid, only to screw up her face in distaste. This earned her a large booming laugh from her oversized companion, which made her feel even more humiliated.

She thrust her arms out angrily, trying to show her disgust as much as possible. Being treated like a child or even worse a 'thing' had left her ungrateful and bitter. Sensing her irritation, the norn took the mug politely from her and then less politely drank the whole thing in one unflattering gulp. The asura's eyes narrowed as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

' So,' he said in a deep and gruff voice. 'What had you lost in the shiverpeaks in the middle of the night wearing such flimsy armour hmm?' There was a slight smirk on his face. He knew asura to be full of pride and to think of themselves as being all knowing, so he couldn't resist playing around with the fact that this particular asura had committed a crime of stupidity that even norn, deemed by asura as unintelligent, would never commit.

The asura's ears and cheeks flamed up in colour as she recalled her idiotic trek in her cultural armour and ridiculous footwear. She bowed her head down, thinking of some sort of intellectual comeback. Unfortunately, there was no excuse that sounded even the slightest bit plausible and she just frowned stubbornly at the man. He sighed and produced from somewhere behind him a pair of asura-sized boots. They were made of a thick sturdy material, decorated with a large jewel and lined with fur. She stopped and stared open mouthed, a gleam in her eye.

Those boots were _cute_.

She recollected herself, closing her mouth and putting on an air of disinterest. She accepted the boots, but tried not to let on just how much she loved them. It was unusual for asura to say thank you, but she did grudgingly, after all he had saved her life.

Or had he?

'Was it you who found me?' she asked, trying to appear as unimpressed as possible.

'Ha ha yes, you were like a little icicle, I'm actually surprised you're alive' He smiled. The word 'little' again, she was starting to get a little sick of it.

'My name is Erik Frostson' he held out his large hand. She had read about handshakes and it wasn't something asura ever did when meeting one another, but she knew what to do. She stuck out her small, white hand. It wasn't much like a handshake, due to size difference of course, but it was more of an acceptance and a thank you on the asura's part. She felt her hand enveloped in his, and it felt strangely safe. All of a sudden, she thought of the eternal alchemy, but didn't quite know why.

'I'm Wusha,' she answered, and for the first time since she had awoken, she smiled.


End file.
